I didn’t mean for this post to cause a bunch of arguing in the comments =(
I thought this was just some gallows humor (e.g. “Everything’s lovely except that I have to fear for my safety all the time”) type of shitpost that sounded similar to comments I’ve heard from women irl a lot.
Maybe ask a lawyer in your area before taking legal advice from lemmy, as both above comments are poor legal advice.
It highly depends on your area, but having OC spray for “normal threats” as they’re called is sound advice, it is not legal to shoot people until they become a “deadly threat” (by a jury’s decision, not yours) and you’re in immanent danger of death or great bodily injury (hospital type stuff).
However, simply “them fighting through the spray” may not be enough without a disparity in force (if he’s 6’4" and she’s 5’0", if there’s multiple attackers, if he’s armed with a blunt/sharp instrument or gun, etc) to bump him up to the “deadly” category. If there are other extenuating factors like listed it may be fine. In some areas you have to retreat to the best of your ability and couldn’t “just shoot him if he starts chasing you” you’d have to run until it became clear escape was impossible.
Do not take anything I say here as fact for your area either, it is HIGHLY variable is kinda my whole point, look up your local laws before if you’re considering buying/carrying a gun, or even for carrying OC spray (illegal in NYC, for instance, and many states have limits on strength, etc).